What wouldn't we do for a helicopter contract… The De Decker affair threatens the government

(B2) It's a story worthy of a detective novel. It features a President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, his Minister of the Interior Claude Guéant, and a tenor of the Belgian Liberal Party, Armand De Decker, all united to save a Belgo-Kazakh billionaire, Patroh Chodiev, against a background of secret commission business, of arms contract in a republic of Central Asia, in a melodrama that drags on for several years, and could well involve in the electoral low funds, the party of the Prime Minister in power, Charles Michel, son of Louis and member of the Reform Movement (aka the Liberal Party).

Chodiev: a friend in need

This " personal and financial friend of President Nazerbayev ” as described by an adviser to the (French) Minister of the Interior, Desaies in a note sent by email to his minister (revealed by Mediapart and Le Soir), is in the 2010s in a bad position. Under investigation for money laundering and forgery for a dark story of occult commission in a public contract awarded by the energy group Tractebel (formerly GDF Suez) in Kazakhstan, he is at great risk, in particular a ban on the London stock exchange where his group is listed. The man who acquired Belgian nationality in 1997, activates all his contacts, especially in France, to get him out of the trap. The Sarkozy government, which is negotiating a contract with Eurocopter for the delivery of helicopters to Kazakhstan, sees this as an opportunity. Chodiev is a key man since he is also " the owner of the only helicopter maintenance and repair plant in Central Asia explains this adviser. A factory that bears the romantic name of B404. A specific unit has been set up, led by the Ministry of the Interior, to bring Belgians to a little…compassion.

An emergency law

The miracle occurs a few months later. A law is voted, drum beating, in barely a month, at the beginning of 2011. The bill is tabled in the Chamber of Deputies on February 11, the amendments begin to be tabled on February 22. The text is voted in parliamentary committee on March 11, and voted in plenary in the Chamber on March 17, before being adopted - after amendment - by the Senate definitively on March 31. Expedited... While reading, we notice some mistakes, the text is too lax. But the government wants to move quickly, very quickly (1). And the government - in current affairs - fears an agreement from a new coalition which would force it to interrupt its work. The government promises a corrective law to correct the situation. She will come a few weeks later. This amending law promulgated on July 11, 2011, published in the Moniteur on August 1. In the interlude, the Belgo-Kazakh sneaked in allowing, by signing a penal transaction, to escape infamy. He pays a nice sum – 22 million euros – but, in exchange, the Belgian prosecutor's office drops all charges. For Chodiev, given his fortune estimated at more than $3 billion, it's a peccadillo well worth avoiding the infamy of even a legal criminal conviction. This while the government is in “current affairs”, that is to say only in the interim, with a (provisional) law, it is a nice tour de force. And believing in the chance of circumstance is still very illusory.

Half a million

Armand de Decker, particularly active on this file, is rewarded. He has always denied having received large sums for this (2). Just the fees of a lawyer... But in fact of normal fees... we are a little above. According to a report from the Belgian investigators, which the RTBF this weekend, 741.846,55 euros were paid to him by Christine Degoul, the French lawyer for Kazakh businessman Patokh Chodiev. Only half a million would have been dedicated to the Kazakh affair, proclaims De Decker, the rest being for other files. For officially, 350 hours of work, that takes an hour to… more than 1500 euros! Vice-president of the Senate at the time of the events, having presided twice over the destinies of this institution (3), and mayor of Uccle, an upscale town in Brussels, the man is renowned and has a large personal network. Still exercising his profession as a lawyer, in parallel - which is surprising at this level of responsibility! — he took the Chodiev dossier under his wing. It is not a question of lobbying however swears the politician but only advice (4).

A mix of genres

In a Belgium where the mixture of genres is common, the scandal risks this time reaching the government. Because several ministers seem involved. The name of the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Didier Reynders, who at the time was Minister of Finance, comes up regularly, notably in a note from the Ministry of the Interior revealed by Médiapart and the daily Le Soir. After believing that the storm had passed, the Liberal Party took matters into its own hands. He was landed this Sunday, manu militari. De Decker of all his functions. A simple press release published on facebook announced the “ furlough from all duties of the interested party.

Sarkozy, Guéant, Fillon heard...

The principle of a commission of inquiry, so far always rejected, has been reinstated. The main Belgian parties having given their agreement on Wednesday noon (November 24). A commission which could also look into the major role played in this dossier by a certain Nicolas Sarkozy... but also by Claude Guéant and even François Fillon who was Prime Minister at the time. It is in any case what indicated, Thursday, the deputy Francis Delpérée, who could be according to the RTBF, the chairman of this commission of inquiry.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

(1) This text is part of a package between Socialists who want banking secrecy and the French-speaking and Flemish liberals, and the CD&V who are campaigning for the penal transaction.

(2) De Decker denied many, accusing, often dismissively, journalists of exaggeration and lies. In fact of lies, it is indeed him which seems to have often pronounced some by denying facts which turned out to be largely exact.

(3) The Senate does not have the importance it has in France, it only has an advisory role but a significant place of conciliation for the various powers in Belgium.

(4) A priori, there are a certain number of competent criminal lawyers in Belgium. And if not for his political network, one wonders why De Decker was chosen.